Method of making electrical conductors



(No Model.)

W. S. PLATT.

METHOD OF MAKING EL'EGTRIGAL GONDUOTORS.

No. 320,684. Patented June 23, 1885.

" q s Q Inaenfar n Inn; HMo-Uthqnphn vam ma UNITED STATES PATENT ()EEICE.

WILLIAM S. PLATT, OF \VATERRURY, (lONNlCClHlUT.

METHOD OF MAKING ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 320,684, dated June 23, 1885.

Application liled May 15, 1894.

To (all whom'it may concern:

Be it known that l, \Vnymnwi S. l.r.A'r'r, a citizen otthe United States, residing at 'Waterbury, in the county ofl\'- ew i-Iaven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrical Conductors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain novel and useful improvements in the manufacture of electricalconductors for long distances; and has for its object to provide such a device which shall be e.\'(n sedingly simple in its construction, while at the same time a firm union between the component parts is established, and the conductor rendered durable and positive; and with these ends in view my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter fully and in detail explained, and then specifically designated by the claim.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may more fully understand its construction and adaptation, I will proceed to describe the same, referring by letterto the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure l is a perspective view illustrating my improvement; Fig. 2, an end view showing the copper sheath secured to the core by means of a lock-seam extending within the channel, and Fig. 3 a modification showing the edges of the sheath of copper or other suitable material abutting against each other.

Similar letters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

A is a central core of steel which is iluxcd and run through a bath of solder, and B a sheath or envelope of copper or any other suitable material, which is curled around the core after the latter has come out of the solder bath. The edges of the copper overlap one above the other, thelower edge being swaged and forced within a concave'channel, C, in the core A.

In the drawings, Fig. 1, D represents the solder, which extends entirely around the core, so that the copper sheath is firmly united there- (No model.)

to. The pccul iar man nor shown of overlapping the edges of the sheath prevents the latter from turning on the core, if it is ever disunited therefrom. At Fig. 2 I have shown the 5 said edges united by a lockseam, and at Fig. 3 I have shown the sheath of copper drawn around a cylindrical core, and with the edges abutting and not overlappin By careful examination it will be seen that the circular channel in the steel core must be proportionate in depth and width to the extent ofthe lap in the covering, and also to the thickness of the covering; hence if the proportion of copper to the steel needs to be in- 6 creased l'or conductivity the channel may be widened and deepened and the overlap increased accordingly. This enables me to have a larger portion of copper, with the advantage of a lockseam, avoiding the use of solder in some cases.

One of the distinctive features of myinvention is the channel in the steel core, since by this arrangement I am enabled to make a simple lap without scarfing, and a lock-seam of 7 great firmness and still retain the cylindrical form of the exterior.

In adapting the copper sheath to the steel core, as shown at Fig. 1, I proceed as follows: The steel core, properly prepared with a flux 8 composed of a sal-ammoniac solution or zinc chloride, or both, and then dried, is run through a bath of solder. Then the abovenamed fluxing is repeated upon the surface of the solder, and a copper sheath drawn or 8 curled around the same, the edges ofsaid sheath being overlapped and forced within the channel in the core, as previously set forth. The parts are then subjected to the action of heat, and then passed through dies which compress 9 the sheath and core firmly together, and a cool; ing agent applied which causes the solder to unite their contact-surfaces.

I am enabled to produce similar results by fluxing the-inner surface of the copper sheath 9 instead of the solder surface, and do not wish to be limited in this respect.

I am aware that a conductor composed of steel witha copper sheath is not new, broadly; and I do not wish to be understood as laying claim to any such construction, the gist of my invention lying in the peculiar method of uniting these metals either by solder or by a lockmaterial, the edges of said sheath being oven seam. lapped and forced within said channel, sub- Having thus described my invention, what I stuntially as set forth. I

claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters In testimony whereof I affix my signature Patent is in )ICSOIICG of two witnesses. 5 a l The method herein described oflnaking elcctrieal conductors, the same consisting in prov VILLIAM PLATT' viding a core of iron or steel. havingin its face \Vitncsses: a longitudinal channel, then enveloping said CLARK M. PLATT,

10 core with a sheath of copper or other suit-able J 'D. F. W'EnsTER. 

